Packers Rookie MarShawn Lloyd Won’t Start Season on IR

“He’s good,” a source said of running back MarShawn Lloyd, the third-round pick who missed the end of training camp with a hamstring injury.

Green Bay Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd will open the season on the 53-man roster rather than injured reserve.

“He’s good,” a source told Packers On SI on Tuesday, about an hour before the 3 p.m. deadline for the Packers to cut the roster to the 53-player limit.

That means the explosive third-round pick will have a chance to be on the field in Brazil on Sept. 6 rather than missing the first four games of the season. And even if he is not 100 percent for the game, at least he will be able to practice and build toward game action.

“That’s the goal. I’m hoping for that,” Lloyd said after sitting out the preseason finale against the Ravens. “It’s day by day, really. I wouldn’t be able to tell exactly, but I’m feeling pretty good.

Lloyd suffered a hamstring injury during his second touch of the preseason opener at Cleveland. After missing the start of training camp with a hip injury, Lloyd missed the final two games due to the hamstring.

It was a major loss in terms of Lloyd’s development. But at least he won’t be sidelined to start the season; not only can’t a player on injured reserve play in the games but he can’t practice, either.

“As far as the plays, I’m good with the plays,” Lloyd said. “I didn’t have pretty much no camp, so it’s more the physical. Like, I’m in shape regular-wise, but I’ve got to get back into football shape. But I don’t care. As long as I’m getting in shape as I go, I’ll be ready to go.”

After two seasons at South Carolina, Lloyd was a difference-maker during his lone season at USC. He averaged 7.1 yards per rushing attempt and 17.8 yards on his 13 receptions. Among all backs in the draft class with at least 100 carries in 2023, Lloyd ranked second in yards per carry and first in yards per catch.

His explosiveness and shiftiness stand in contrast to the skills of the Packers’ other backs, giving him an opportunity to be an immediate change-of-pace weapon.

Lloyd wasted no time in showing that dynamic during the offseason practices. However, after dealing with injuries during his college career, he missed two big chunks of training camp.

“It makes it extremely difficult, especially as a rookie because you need the reps,” running backs coach Ben Sirmans said during training camp. “It’s one thing to sit in the classroom, learn it, or, even when you’re behind seeing other guys run the exact plays that you’re going to run and you’re trying to take mental reps, it’s a lot different than hearing the calls made in the huddle, lining up properly, doing all those things.

“So, he, like most young players, needs a lot of reps. But it’s going to come. I’m not overly concerned about it, because we talk about it all the time. It’s my job to make sure that he’s right and ready when his time comes. But the one good thing about him is that he’s very eager, He’s here early in the morning getting his body right, he’s sitting at the cafeteria studying and going through things, so because he has that part of it as part of his DNA, I think at the end of the day he’s going to be fine.”

One black eye on his college career is he fumbled eight times in 325 career touches. For sake of comparison, AJ Dillon has fumbled only three times in 683 touches with the Packers, including zero in exactly 200 touches last year.

He’ll have to show he can handle the ball and pass-protection duties before gaining an extensive role alongside Josh Jacobs.

“I think him being mentally conscious of it is the most important thing because a lot of times when he runs with the ball, he does carry it properly,” Sirmans said. “But then he just gets a little lax with it. 

“And sometimes when backs have a lot of moves and make a lot of moves – which is what he is – I think sometimes that’s when it can get away from you in terms of squeezing it and being conscious of it when you’re trying to break somebody down or stuff like that.”

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